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Less mercury in the environment since tougher emissions rules enacted
Mercury has declined significantly in the air, water, and soil, and in U.S. freshwater and Atlantic Ocean fisheries. Weakening emissions rules could impede progress.
A public health wish list
Ensuring clean drinking water, boosting cancer screening, providing incentives aimed at healthy eating, and addressing socioeconomic factors that affect health such as housing and insurance are some of the measures that should be emphasized to improve public health,…
Harvard experts urge EPA to drop proposal for ‘transparent’ science
Harvard experts are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw a proposed rule requiring scientific “transparency” in any studies used to set agency regulations. According to an August 10, 2018 article in the Harvard Gazette, nearly…
Risks of PFASs known decades before research revealed, says expert
Research on the dangerous health effects of perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs)—chemicals widely used in everything from carpets and nonstick cookware to firefighting foams—was kept hidden for decades.
Will detained immigrant children have safe drinking water?
Under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, some military bases are being considered as detention centers for immigrant children. But these sites may have drinking water contaminated with perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs—toxic chemicals that can be especially hazardous…
Overfishing threatens human health
People around the world are eating more fish. While this is generally good for their health, a researcher from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health cautions that the growing demand is putting a potentially catastrophic strain on…
Former EPA head on why Clean Water Rule, Clean Power Plan should stay in place
Federal environmental regulations such as the Clean Water Rule and the Clean Power Plan shouldn’t be struck down by the Trump Administration just because they were issued under President Obama, according to Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the…
PFASs, chemicals commonly found in environment, may interfere with body weight regulation
For immediate release: February 13, 2018 Boston, MA – A class of chemicals used in many industrial and consumer products was linked with greater weight gain after dieting, particularly among women, according to a study led by Harvard…
Tracking mercury sources in seafood
It’s been known that exposure to the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg) comes mostly from eating seafood. Now, a new Harvard study has found that most of that exposure comes from tuna and shrimp, and that seafood from the Pacific…
New Superfund center launched to investigate industrial chemicals
The Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP) center has been launched to investigate industrial chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). High levels of human exposure to PFASs have been shown to increase cholesterol levels, interfere…